Fog closes Houston ship channel
The Houston Ship Channel, part of the largest US petroleum port, closed to arriving oil tankers and other vessels for the second time in two days because of fog. Houston has the largest US oil port and second-largest port of any kind by tonnage. More than 420 petrochemical plants and two of the nation's four biggest oil refineries are in the Houston area. There were 30 ships waiting to go through the channel on Tuesday, according to TJ Nelson, a spokesman for the pilots' organisation. It takes two to three days before a channel shutdown begins to affect operations at Houston-area refineries, he said. The channel typically has 55 vessel movements a day.
